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In 2014, Worlds expanded its complaint, in a separate lawsuit, against Destiny publisher Bungie. A developer-publisher agreement was in-place between Bungie and Activision at that time.

Bungie petitioned the patent office’s Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) in a challenge to Worlds’ claims. And Bungie says that you can’t patent the concept of a shared multiplayer 3D space since it is a universal ideal. 

In January 2020, the PTAB ruled against Bungie. They dismissed all remaining proceedings brought against Worlds by Bungie. And returned all patent claims to Worlds.

The case was appealed to the Federal District Court by Activision. And on April 30th, after years of litigation US District Judge Denise Casper issues a summary judgment in favor of Activision. This effectively threw out the case.

CEO Kidrin says it’s not over

In a statement Worlds CEO Thom Kidrin says, “We are obviously disappointed in the court’s decision, but we believe the ruling is contrary to the established law of section 101 as announced by the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.” 

And Mr. Kidrin emphasizes that “The court’s decision focused much of its analysis on claim 4 of the ‘690 patent, which was fully considered and found valid and patentable by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in the challenges raised by Bungie in 2015.”

Mr. Kidrin adds that “Worlds has faced many obstacles while enforcing its intellectual property rights against parties such as Activision, Linden Lab, and Microsoft. Some thought Bungie’s 2015 challenges would put an end to Worlds’ patents, but Worlds persevered and each of the challenged patents emerged successfully with claims intact. Friday’s ruling is just another obstacle, and Worlds intends to continue fighting to overturn that ruling.”

On Sept 25, 2020, Worlds submits a formal filing of the Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corporation for patent infringement. The complaint accuses Microsoft in its Minecraft video game of infringing on their 501 Patent.